Krupp May Bear Brunt Of Job Cuts in Merger

The German company Fried. Krupp A.G. will bear the brunt of about 8,000 job cuts to be made when it merges its steel company with that of Thyssen A.G., a state government official said yesterday. Wolfgang Clement, economics minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said 3,600 jobs at Krupp Hoesch Stahl A.G. would be cut from a work force of 5,700 at the steel works based in Dortmund.

But Ekkehard Schulz, head of Thyssen's steel company, Thyssen Stahl A.G., said that of the 8,000 cuts, 4,000 had previously been agreed on in reorganizing areas in which the two companies already cooperate.